Robert grumbled while moving at a moderate pace.
"Why does everywhere look the same?"
Even after walking for an hour straight, he still wasn't able to understand the layout of this place. Just about everything looked the same except the rooms that housed anomalous objects. The walls were of the same color, the metal doors looked the same , every intersection resembled each other very closely to the point of making discernment impossible and even the damn turns in the corridor were alike. All of this coupled with the eerie silence, blinking lights, and the fact that his card only had a level 1 security clearence, which further blocked his traversing of this 'maze' was slowly driving him mad.
"Does nobody here have an aesthetic sens.."
Robert suddenly came to a stop. He stood before a metal door with transparent glass walls around it. When looked through the glass, one could see the stairs that went from the other side of the door to a lower level.
But what made Robert stop wasn't any of these characteristics. It was simply the fact that there stood two people in the lower level talking to each other.
Robert was stunned for a while before deciding to reach out to them. But just when he was about to call for them, he heard a trembling voice.
"I- It's coming.. isn't it?" said one of the two people. He lowered himself and held his head with his shaking hands.
Just when the other one was going to speak, there was the noise of a metal gate opening.
"Oh. .. shi." Robert gasped.
The silhouette that appeared when the other door opened stood there as though it was a statue.
No,it WAS indeed a statue.
It was SCP-173.
The statue only stopped because Robert was looking at it.
It was quite fortunate that Robert was there, Otherwise the two people would've ended up dead by now.
But of course, there is no fortune that lasts forever. The lights blinked once more. It lasted an instant but that was enough for the brown colored demon to act.
When the lights came back, all that was left were two corpses with twisted necks.
The statue was nowhere to be seen, or so he thought. The next moment, a bang resounded from the gate in front Robert.
"Fu.."
Robert didn't waste any time and looked at it again, causing the SCP to stop. His breaths were heavy as he slowly walked towards the door opposite the corridor with his eyes trained on the statue.
He slowly pushed the button by the side causing the metal door to open with a loud sound. He walked in, pushed the button the other side, prompting the door to close.
Through the narrow slit when the door was about to close, he saw the gate holding the statue at bay slowly open.
He didn't need to think anymore. He just ran with all the energy he could muster from his trembling legs.
He ran and ran, until he finally exhausted all his energy. He also made sure to close all the doors he had opened while running.
He fell on the floor with a thud, breathing heavily. He tried to calm himself down by humming the song that taught to him by a person whose face he could no longer remember. A person so dear to him, he ended up here just for her sake.
But that was a story for another day. He slowly stood up, not knowing what to do.
He suddenly felt his hands on something rather squishy. He looked down to realize that he was laying beside another corpse.
"AAAAAGHH....."Robert screamed until he could no more.
"_______"
Somewhere else within the same facility,
A humanoid figure slowly rose from the ground while looking around him. He was wearing a strange attire that cannot be seen anywhere on earth within the current era.
He had a white bone like 'mask' with long crow like beak and two semi circular holes present in front of the glowing white eyes with dark pupils. His black robe resembled that of a mage under which his entire body was covered by clothes with not a single instance of his true body showing outside. His entire black dress seemed like it was stitched together and was covered by a thin layer of wax. The dress as well as the 'mask' seems to be an extension of his body growing from his skin. As though the skin and the dress melted together.
Indeed,he is a plague doctor. Long ago his hands had saved lives, but due to some circumstances his only goal right till now was to eliminate anyone carrying the 'pestilence', a supposed disease carried by many.
The plague doctor stood as though he had remembered something. He had long lost his will, memory and everything that made him human. Now all he had left was hatred and pity.
Now, he finally remembered his goal. It was salvation.
The plague doctor walked slowly.
Why must everyone suffer? Why must everyone feel pain? Why must anyone shed tears?
The plague doctor had asked himself such questions long ago when he still was a human.
If life is the disease that grants suffering.
If life is the disease that gives pain.
If life is the disease that makes everyone shed tears.
Then I will cure everyone of that disease.
Then I will bring salvation to all.
'The plague doctor' or rather 'SCP-049' had pledged to bring everyone to salvation right before he succumbed to madness.
The doctor walked, slowly raising his hands, the touch of which, could bring salvation to everyone in the form of death.
Even in madness, the doctor had remembered his vow.
Even when he could no longer think, the doctor had remembered his vow.
Even now, although he doesn't remember who he is supposed to be, the doctor has remembered his vow.
"I shall bring salvation to the world."
"_"
Somewhere else,
A blade trembled as though in response to the doctor's determination.
"__"
Back to Robert again,
Robert calmed down and started to slowly asses the situation. Although he wasn't unfamiliar to the sight of corpses by now, the sight of this particular body still made a great impression.
The body was slowly decaying into a black puddle as he was watching. The eyeballs were missing and the tongue was lying by the door opposite the body with a black colour staining the floor from the door to the body as though he crawled here while slowly losing body parts.
"What's that written beside him?"
Robert squinted his eyes trying to understand the messy writing probably left by the man as a warning using the oozing liquid from his body.
"Be ... w ..ar ..e"
Robert puzzledly tried to piece the writing together.
"T..he..ol..d..ma..n.g..ot..o..ut."
Robert slowly spelled it out the rest and was instantly overcome by an ominous feeling.
"Beware, the old man got out. Don't confront and run."
The rushed message had stopped there.